Sports Illustrated and Empower Onyx are putting the spotlight on the diverse journeys of Black women across sports—from the veteran athletes, to up-and-coming stars, coaches, executives and more—in the series, Elle-evate: 100 Influential Black Women in Sports.
China Jude has several cherished professional accomplishments, but being the first woman of color to fill a vice president position with the Denver Broncos isn’t one of them. The team’s vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion also holds a spot on USA Today’s 2022 list of the 50 Most Influential Black People in Sports, is part of CORE’s 2022 100 Most Influential Blacks Today and was named a Sports Business Journal Game Changer in 2020—but those don’t make the list either. Instead, Jude is most proud of herself for sticking with her passions, especially after enduring a lot of criticism in her career prior to joining the Broncos, when she served as a college athletic director.
